Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations
Recent studies have shown significant challenges for atmospheric models to simulate tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) and its precursors in the Arctic. In this study, ground-based data were combined with a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to examine the abundance and seasonal variations of O...
Published in: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 https://doaj.org/article/77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 2023-05-15T15:17:55+02:00 Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations Y. Huang S. Wu L. J. Kramer D. Helmig R. E. Honrath 2017-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 https://doaj.org/article/77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/14661/2017/acp-17-14661-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 17, Pp 14661-14674 (2017) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 2022-12-30T22:51:29Z Recent studies have shown significant challenges for atmospheric models to simulate tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) and its precursors in the Arctic. In this study, ground-based data were combined with a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to examine the abundance and seasonal variations of O 3 and its precursors at Summit, Greenland (72.34° N, 38.29° W; 3212 m a.s.l.). Model simulations for atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO x ), peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), propane (C 3 H 8 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and O 3 for the period July 2008–June 2010 were compared with observations. The model performed well in simulating certain species (such as CO and C 3 H 8 ), but some significant discrepancies were identified for other species and further investigated. The model generally underestimated NO x and PAN (by ∼ 50 and 30 %, respectively) for March–June. Likely contributing factors to the low bias include missing NO x and PAN emissions from snowpack chemistry in the model. At the same time, the model overestimated NO x mixing ratios by more than a factor of 2 in wintertime, with episodic NO x mixing ratios up to 15 times higher than the typical NO x levels at Summit. Further investigation showed that these simulated episodic NO x spikes were always associated with transport events from Europe, but the exact cause remained unclear. The model systematically overestimated C 2 H 6 mixing ratios by approximately 20 % relative to observations. This discrepancy can be resolved by decreasing anthropogenic C 2 H 6 emissions over Asia and the US by ∼ 20 %, from 5.4 to 4.4 Tg year −1 . GEOS-Chem was able to reproduce the seasonal variability of O 3 and its spring maximum. However, compared with observations, it underestimated surface O 3 by approximately 13 % (6.5 ppbv) from April to July. This low bias appeared to be driven by several factors including missing snowpack emissions of NO x and nitrous acid in the model, the weak simulated stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange flux of O 3 over the summit, and the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17 23 14661 14674 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
spellingShingle |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 Y. Huang S. Wu L. J. Kramer D. Helmig R. E. Honrath Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Recent studies have shown significant challenges for atmospheric models to simulate tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) and its precursors in the Arctic. In this study, ground-based data were combined with a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to examine the abundance and seasonal variations of O 3 and its precursors at Summit, Greenland (72.34° N, 38.29° W; 3212 m a.s.l.). Model simulations for atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO x ), peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), ethane (C 2 H 6 ), propane (C 3 H 8 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and O 3 for the period July 2008–June 2010 were compared with observations. The model performed well in simulating certain species (such as CO and C 3 H 8 ), but some significant discrepancies were identified for other species and further investigated. The model generally underestimated NO x and PAN (by ∼ 50 and 30 %, respectively) for March–June. Likely contributing factors to the low bias include missing NO x and PAN emissions from snowpack chemistry in the model. At the same time, the model overestimated NO x mixing ratios by more than a factor of 2 in wintertime, with episodic NO x mixing ratios up to 15 times higher than the typical NO x levels at Summit. Further investigation showed that these simulated episodic NO x spikes were always associated with transport events from Europe, but the exact cause remained unclear. The model systematically overestimated C 2 H 6 mixing ratios by approximately 20 % relative to observations. This discrepancy can be resolved by decreasing anthropogenic C 2 H 6 emissions over Asia and the US by ∼ 20 %, from 5.4 to 4.4 Tg year −1 . GEOS-Chem was able to reproduce the seasonal variability of O 3 and its spring maximum. However, compared with observations, it underestimated surface O 3 by approximately 13 % (6.5 ppbv) from April to July. This low bias appeared to be driven by several factors including missing snowpack emissions of NO x and nitrous acid in the model, the weak simulated stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange flux of O 3 over the summit, and the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Y. Huang S. Wu L. J. Kramer D. Helmig R. E. Honrath |
author_facet |
Y. Huang S. Wu L. J. Kramer D. Helmig R. E. Honrath |
author_sort |
Y. Huang |
title |
Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
title_short |
Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
title_full |
Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
title_fullStr |
Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface ozone and its precursors at Summit, Greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
title_sort |
surface ozone and its precursors at summit, greenland: comparison between observations and model simulations |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 https://doaj.org/article/77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 17, Pp 14661-14674 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/14661/2017/acp-17-14661-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/77f055371b104a998572562924aa3383 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14661-2017 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
14661 |
op_container_end_page |
14674 |
_version_ |
1766348170884808704 |